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Why Is It "Arcane" Damage Instead of "Fire"?
jerrocko
Member Posts: 197 Arc User
I'd played a lot of D/D games on PC, and I don't remember any of it being anything but elemental: fire, cold, lightning, etc…
Update: I'm playing now and see that two flame powers do say "fire damage," though most things are "arcane."
Update: I'm playing now and see that two flame powers do say "fire damage," though most things are "arcane."
Jerrocko,
Leader of the Packs
Leader of the Packs
Post edited by jerrocko on
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Encounter Matrix | Advanced Foundry Topics
More or less what he said.
However I think many players might be more familiar with the term "magic" damage as this is how it was displayed in NWN 1 & 2 if not how it was officially in the PnP editions. Arcane damage is a naming scheme of fourth edition.
As you likely know there used to be two types of "magic:" Arcane and Divine.
Arcane Magic was of course the power behind Wizards, Sorcerors, Warlocks, Bards and any other magic which was formed from Mystras Weave. Basically any class which did not channel power directly from a god.
Divine Magic was channeled directly from a god and was used by Clerics, Paladin's Clerics and Druids.
With fourth edition D&D they added a third and fourth type: primal and psionic.
Druids and Rangers are no longer divine but rather primal channeling their magic from nature and Monks and Psionists use psionic magic channeled from the mind.
Due to all of these different types of magic it likely seemed logical to start accurately classifying the miscellaneous magic damage. Spells like Magic Missile do Arcane Magic Damage (magic damage from an arcane source) while cleric spells such as healing powers on undead do Divine Magic Damage.
Eldarth you should stop being so quick to put down that comment. You are losing D&D cred in this situation. Hasty, hasty.
As you said it used to be considered damage in second edition. In video games after BG (which correctly labelled it as damage) it has either been classified as magic damage (NWN) or Arcane Damage (NW and BG:DA). Force Damage has never existed in a video game.
It's always translated to the much more logical (arcane) magic damage which all force damage is.
In any case, elemental damage is the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot of other damage sources such as necrotic, radiant, psionic...etc.
Arcane is magic damage from an arcane source.
I don't know what editions they were, but I did love Magic Missile, it was a favorite-cheap to cast and you got up to nine missiles or so firing on the same target. This version just isn't the same to me, but seems to be a major arcane stacker, and that's all new to me pretty much. Didn't deal much with stacks before, though I'm sure on some spells they were calc-ed in somehow.
Leader of the Packs
Hey! Your post just changed as I was replying above to the other one. LOL. Tripped me for a second or two.
My CW is only allowed a few damage types, which is fine for me since it's always cold/ice powers except on the rare few that were immune. They I had fire and lightning backup, now I have both though monsters don't seem to possess certain resistances, just immunity. Can't find any info on that stuff.
Yeah, force-magic damage, and Baldur's Gate was one of my favorite DD games, if not the favorite. Again, a lot for MM's increased number of missiles. And David Warner as my 'brother' or whatever it was. That was a great game.
Leader of the Packs
Leader of the Packs
They mixed up some things, but the "damage type" is actually of little to no importance, unless
A) it is Black Ice damage type
Because all damage plays the same, there are no specific resistances (except for Black Ice), i.e. cold/chill damage does same amount of damage to a human, a yeti and a fire elemental.
That's mainly because you can't really change damage type by much. A warrior typically could easily switch between slashing/piercing/bludgeoning by changing weapons, but in NW warriors (both GF and GWF) have pre-set weapons, and those damage types have been even removed in 4e IIRC.
A CW has a limited set of powers, and, while in P&P you could memorize and use a lot of spells, in NW you can't have more than 4 active powers and you can't change them mid-fight, and you also have a limited choice of powers to begin with. Thus, it's unlikely we'll ever see significant damage types.
Alrighty then, allow me to clarify a bit...[from D&D4e Damage Types]
Arcane...arcane...mm...arcane. Nope, not seeing it.
So, NWO based on 4e has a damage type that is not in 4e but is in 3.5 as
Arcane Admixture (feat) which adds "arcane" damage.
Can anyone find an actual reference to "arcane damage" in any official 4e books?
While you're at it, perhaps someone can explain why the "Cloak of Ehterealness" is not completely worthless as there is no longer an Ethereal plane?
Encounter Matrix | Advanced Foundry Topics
^^this
Also, what about all the creatures (force dragon, etc) or classic spell effects (wall/cube of force) that are intrinsically elemental force? I guess they no longer exist in Forgotten Realms.
I assume your main character is a rogue because going into the Tomb of Betrayers without a rogue (Neeshka) is suicide thanks to the bajillion traps within.
Taking a break from Neverwinter indefinitely...
Cantrips - Acid Spash, Daze, Flare, Light, Ray of Frost, Resistance
1st-Level - Burning Hands, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Shield, Shocking Grasp
2nd-Level - Cloud of Bewilderment, Ghostly Visage, Melf's Acid Arrow, Mirror Image
3rd-Level - Fireball, Flame Arrow, Haste
4th-Level - Confusion, Isaac's Lesser Missile Storm
Taking a break from Neverwinter indefinitely...